In Game 2 on Sunday, the Golden State Warriors became the second team since the three-point line was added to shoot 50 percent from the field, 40 percent on three-pointers, and 90 percent at the free throw line during an NBA Finals game. The last time it was done was 1986.

Two years ago, the Warriors became NBA champions for the first time since 1975. They were the upstarts, the overachievers. Nobody thought they could do it. Everyone thought they were a fluke. Steve Kerr — in his first year of coaching since taking over for a dismissed, embarrassed Mark Jackson — had taken the team to a place many Warriors fans never thought they’d see: Champions of the world.

If you attend a Warriors regular season game, there’s a good chance you won’t see Steph, KD, Draymond, or Klay.

The Golden State Warriors had the best regular season in league history last year. They also failed to win the title, in no small part because Stephen Curry suffered a playoff injury and they couldn't close out the Cleveland Cavaliers after going up 3-1 in the series.

The question we had before us this summer was how the league would react to the Golden State Warriors. Would teams simply pack it in and keep their proverbial powder dry for another day, or meet the challenge head on and deal with it on its own terms?

Now that the Wizards have locked up the third overall pick from the 2012 draft to a big contract, they have to think ahead to locking up the third overall from the 2013 draft, Otto Porter, to a deal as well.

With Labor Day coming and going, summer is officially over. Summer ending is always a bit sad as the constant warm weather will soon shift to autumn hues and then winter in various parts of the country. Despite the seasonal change, the end of summer also signals that the NBA season is just around the corner.

FORMER NBA head coach Reggie Theus, assisted by Jr. NBA coaches Chris Sumner and Natalia André, conducted a basketball clinic for students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Laboratory High School as part of NBA Cares.

Boys and girls aged 10 to 14 years old learned basketball fundamentals through fun basketball lessons from the NBA coaches who introduced them to skills training.

After a meh first half, the Warriors found their mojo in the third quarter to secure the win against the Timberwolves, 121-107.

One day before Steve Kerr infamously sat Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green (as well as the injured Kevin Durant) against the San Antonio Spurs, the Warriors lost a hard-fought game against the Timberwolves in Minneapolis. The young team, led by rising star Karl-Anthony Towns, seems well-equipped to handle the Warriors’ elite shooting and defensive versatility now and in coming years.

Over 600 boys and girls from South Luzon came out to showcase their basketball skills as Jr. NBA Philippines 2017 presented by Alaska staged its second Regional Selection Camp February 25-26 at Manuel S. Enverga University in Lucena City.

Eleven months ago, as the world heaved under Kevin Durant’s feet, we had a million reasons why Kevin Durant would leave his brodie Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. We had a million reasons why Kevin Durant would join the Golden State Warriors, already the world’s best basketball team (albeit one that had just dropped a championship).

This LeBron James quote proves he understands why Kevin Durant joined the Warriors

No one can ever take the 2017 championship away from Kevin Durant, and LeBron James knows that better than anyone. James, a three-time champion himself, couldn’t help but recall his own first championship when asked about how he felt about Durant winning.

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Chicago Bulls 99-98 to give the Mavericks their first three game winning streak of the 2016-17 season. Harrison Barnes scored 20 points while old war horse Dirk Nowitzki posted a double double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jimmy Butler led the Bulls in defeat with a near triple double: 24 points, 12 assists, and 9 rebounds.

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Sacramento Kings on the road, 122-118. Behind the 20th triple-double on the season by Russell Westbrook (36-11-10, 4 steals, 7 TOs), the Thunder got back in the win column and moved 8 games over .500 once again.

The Thunder looked weary and battered and fell again to a likely lottery team.

The Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Sacramento Kings on the road, 116-101. On the second night of a back-to-back, the Thunder looked as weary as they did in their first back-to-back in their underwhelming loss to the Pistons. Once again, OKC fell behind early by double digits, used several runs to make the game competitive, but by the time the end of the 3rd quarter came around, looked as if all of their energy and focus was gone.

The Oklahoma City Thunder closed out pre-season play on Tuesday night with a road win against the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder used outstanding efforts on offense and defense able to hold on for a 96-86 victory in preparation for the regular season to begin.

The Thunder dominated majority in New Orleans and held on for the road win.

The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 114-105. Marking their second consecutive road win in a row, the Thunder used a bruising inside game behind Steven Adams (20-11-3 with 4 blocks) and Russell Westbrook’s triple-double (27-12-10) to hold the Pelicans at arm’s length for most of the night. The win brings the Thunder back to 8 games over .500 and an even 6-6 in their toughest month of the season with 3 games to go.

They still have Pop, Kawhi, LaMarcus and Parker. They'll be a threat to win the title. Again.

FLANNERY: I started working in newspapers full-time in the fall of 1997. That was also Tim Duncan's rookie year. (I also skipped my grad school graduation ceremony to watch the lottery, but that's another story). The dude has been playing for literally my entire working life. Now, he's gone and I'm feeling old.